Just lol if you think Jordan would go 6 for 6 against Lebrons finals opponents

[therealdope]

so NY, IND, and even CLE (had two all stars in Price and Dougherty lest we forget) were shitty in the 90s? jordan faced nobody? how about ATL?
Even the Hornets for a minute there w/ young Mourning/Larry Johnson (2 20/10 players), kendall gill etc...

Utah, Knicks and Portland are the first teams that come to mind. Just look at the size Portland had - Duckworth, Buck Williams, Cliff Robinson, Sibonis, Mark Bryan -- to go with a back court of Drexler, Porter and Robert Pack.

 

[therealdope]

What is the current theory for Jordan's retirement?

My wild guess (now 20+ yrs ago) was that since Jordan had gambling losses to mob connected guys Stern decided to sit him for 2 yrs in order to remove any possibility of someone having outside influence on games --- other than Stern himself.

 

[faustian]

Plus Kareem wasn't there and another player was hurt a couple games. Lets not act like it was the show time lakers.

People don't want to admitt it but he had a lot of help right around the time he started winning.

1. magic retires/lakers old
2. Bird retires/Celtics old
3. isiah retires/pistons were old and never a threat after Jordan finally beat them in teh playoffs his first chip run
4. Best young player in league dies- Len Bias
5. Another good player in league on off and def dies- reggie lewis.

6. league expansion draining good teams benches

3 legends retire and 2 of the best young players die plus the leagues bench gets drained from the expansion draft.

Lol

Magic/Bird/Thomas were 80s stars, no shit they aren't gonna be overly relevant during the 90s. New superstars emerged in their primes during the 90s and the result was one of the most superstar-heavy decades in NBA history. All these superstars either retired or were in severe decline by the time LeBron came on the scene

If 90s expansion watered down team depth then the same would apply to Jordan's Bulls. They didn't get some special exception to the expansion draft

Imagine if Durant/Duncan/Dirk retired right around the time Lebron went to the heat. Then imagine if Anthony Davis and Curry died and the raptors, celtics, grizz, clippers, etc all had their bench drained from expansion drafts. How many chips would Lebron have?

This just might be the most ridiculous thing posted itt so far

 

[HunterSdVa29]

What is the current theory for Jordan's retirement?

My wild guess (now 20+ yrs ago) was that since Jordan had gambling losses to mob connected guys Stern decided to sit him for 2 yrs in order to remove any possibility of someone having outside influence on games --- other than Stern himself.

I think, give or take a few details, that's the consensus among fans

 

[Lord Commander Palis]

/thread

 

[MysticNinjaJay]

What is the current theory for Jordan's retirement?

My wild guess (now 20+ yrs ago) was that since Jordan had gambling losses to mob connected guys Stern decided to sit him for 2 yrs in order to remove any possibility of someone having outside influence on games --- other than Stern himself.

Theory? His father was murdered and Jordan was too distraught to play Basketball so he basically took a break from the game. He played Baseball to fulfill a promise to his father that he would try baseball after basketball (Jordan was known as Mr. Baseball when he played in Little League and his father always imagined him as a Baseball player). That is Michael Jordan's explanation for why he retired. He came back because he missed it and he realized he wasn't good enough to play Major League Baseball. Whatever gambling debt he had I'm sure he could have payed it off.

 

[RichardSwingslo]

Theory? His father was murdered and Jordan was too distraught to play Basketball so he basically took a break from the game. He played Baseball to fulfill a promise to his father that he would try baseball after basketball (Jordan was known as Mr. Baseball when he played in Little League and his father always imagined him as a Baseball player). That is Michael Jordan's explanation for why he retired. He came back because he missed it and he realized he wasn't good enough to play Major League Baseball. Whatever gambling debt he had I'm sure he could have payed it off.

Lots of folks speculate that his dad was murdered because of Jordan's gambling debts

 

[MysticNinjaJay]

Lots of folks speculate that his dad was murdered because of Jordan's gambling debts

Based on what? Unless they connected the killers to Jordan I don't think there is any reason to believe that. As far as I know they were just some young punks trying to jack his father's car.

 

[RichardSwingslo]

Based on what? Unless they connected the killers to Jordan I don't think there is any reason to believe that. As far as I know they were just some young punks trying to jack his father's car.

Not sure I'm not one of those people although I do think it's possible. Get involved with the wrong people and get in to debt and crazy shit happens.

 

[MysticNinjaJay]

Not sure I'm not one of those people although I do think it's possible. Get involved with the wrong people and get in to debt and crazy shit happens.

I will go with the official story unless they have evidence to the contrary. The world is full of lies and rumors. Michael Jordan having a gambling debt doesn't mean they went after his father for revenge or to make him pay up (even less likely). The men involved were tried and convicted. The official story is that his father was in his car sleeping by the side of the rode and they robbed him while shooting him in the process. They said they didn't even know who he was until they went through his stuff in the car.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

I have never seen the tiniest bit of evidence that Jordan was suspended, nor that his father died as a result of his gambling debts. But I have heard people insist that's the case since the time he was playing baseball. People love conspiracy theories. Hell these days, they're more apt to believe some nonsensical conspiracy than anything else. Hell, we have morons on this board who believe the world is flat or that the Illuminati really do control everything. People want to believe what they want to believe.

 

[therealdope]

Theory? His father was murdered and Jordan was too distraught to play Basketball so he basically took a break from the game. He played Baseball to fulfill a promise to his father that he would try baseball after basketball (Jordan was known as Mr. Baseball when he played in Little League and his father always imagined him as a Baseball player). That is Michael Jordan's explanation for why he retired. He came back because he missed it and he realized he wasn't good enough to play Major League Baseball. Whatever gambling debt he had I'm sure he could have payed it off.

His state of being distraught didn't prevent him from picking up a girlfriend in Florida and continuing to gamble during spring training.

 

[MysticNinjaJay]

His state of being distraught didn't prevent him from picking up a girlfriend in Florida and continuing to gamble during spring training.

How is that relevant to anything? If he likes women and gambling does that mean he didn't care about his father?

 

[faustian]

There was a full investigation and criminal case and zero evidence found that MJ's father was killed over gambling debts. Zero

And the idea that Stern would suspend MJ to cover up some kind of gambling problem makes zero sense whatsoever. A) If there was something for the league to be afraid of then that means there was evidence. So either the league had the evidence and could simply destroy it without suspending their GOAT cash cow, or a third party had the evidence and would still have the evidence regardless of whether MJ left the league for 18 months. B) So the same guy that Stern secretly suspended over gambling no-nos as a player which could've brought down the league... Stern then later allowed that same guy to then purchase an NBA franch? Lol

 

[HunterSdVa29]

 

[Revolver]

I always laugh at the MJ had his dad killed over gambling debts conspiracy. Like he couldn't pay any amount he owed. He's an A Level athlete not some D level can mma fighter.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

the story goes he was semiforced out to go to rehab for gambling (see his first retirement announcement, not exactly sad, Phil looks pissed, stern is right there, etc..) not b/c of the literal gambling, but whom exactly he was gambling with. He literally had to testify at a federal drug and money laundering trial b/c he lost money gambling to a known felon and the IRS seized it...after he told the media AND authorities it was a loan to the guy (even worse haha)
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-28/sports/sp-858_1_jordan-claims

He then had 3 other checks, found in teh briefcase of a slain bail bondsmen FFS. totaling 108k. Then obviously came the businessmen that said he was owed 1.3M but only paid 600k (showed checks to prove it) and wrote a book about it
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-03/sports/sp-42795_1_san-diego

Then he was caught in Atlantic City in 93 at 0230 before a game, which the bulls lost the next day
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/27/sports/sports-of-the-times-jordan-s-atlantic-city-caper.html

the finally, during his retirement conference he said 'If David Stern lets me back in the league, maybe i'll come back'...

now faust brings up an excellent point regarding ownership, and i'm not saying i agree w/ the CT. But if say he never gambled on hoops, and then baseball counted as 'rehab' or a 'suspension'...then it would make sense to let him back in and later become owner. While he still gambled, i don't think he ever got into remote further legal issues over it

 

[RichardSwingslo]

There was a full investigation and criminal case and zero evidence found that MJ's father was killed over gambling debts. Zero

And the idea that Stern would suspend MJ to cover up some kind of gambling problem makes zero sense whatsoever. A) If there was something for the league to be afraid of then that means there was evidence. So either the league had the evidence and could simply destroy it without suspending their GOAT cash cow, or a third party had the evidence and would still have the evidence regardless of whether MJ left the league for 18 months. B) So the same guy that Stern secretly suspended over gambling no-nos as a player which could've brought down the league... Stern then later allowed that same guy to then purchase an NBA franch? Lol

Solid post. I never heard that theory before but a while ago I was reading some thread where people were suggesting it

 

[RichardSwingslo]

the story goes he was semiforced out to go to rehab for gambling (see his first retirement announcement, not exactly sad, Phil looks pissed, stern is right there, etc..) not b/c of the literal gambling, but whom exactly he was gambling with. He literally had to testify at a federal drug and money laundering trial b/c he lost money gambling to a known felon and the IRS seized it...after he told the media AND authorities it was a loan to the guy (even worse haha)
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-28/sports/sp-858_1_jordan-claims

He then had 3 other checks, found in teh briefcase of a slain bail bondsmen FFS. totaling 108k. Then obviously came the businessmen that said he was owed 1.3M but only paid 600k (showed checks to prove it) and wrote a book about it
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-03/sports/sp-42795_1_san-diego

Then he was caught in Atlantic City in 93 at 0230 before a game, which the bulls lost the next day
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/27/sports/sports-of-the-times-jordan-s-atlantic-city-caper.html

the finally, during his retirement conference he said 'If David Stern lets me back in the league, maybe i'll come back'...

now faust brings up an excellent point regarding ownership, and i'm not saying i agree w/ the CT. But if say he never gambled on hoops, and then baseball counted as 'rehab' or a 'suspension'...then it would make sense to let him back in and later become owner. While he still gambled, i don't think he ever got into remote further legal issues over it

Damn, that's interesting shit

 

[therealdope]

There was a full investigation and criminal case and zero evidence found that MJ's father was killed over gambling debts. Zero

I've never heard this before. I mean I was around when the whole thing happened. Who is suggesting that his dad's murder was over gambling debts.

And the idea that Stern would suspend MJ to cover up some kind of gambling problem makes zero sense whatsoever. A) If there was something for the league to be afraid of then that means there was evidence. So either the league had the evidence and could simply destroy it without suspending their GOAT cash cow, or a third party had the evidence and would still have the evidence regardless of whether MJ left the league for 18 months. B) So the same guy that Stern secretly suspended over gambling no-nos as a player which could've brought down the league... Stern then later allowed that same guy to then purchase an NBA franch? Lol

LOL? More like LOL @ the idea that the cops would know more than Stern. The cops are basically useless unless someone talks to them --- even then they usually fuck it up. This isn't Law & Order.

After MJ went back to the NBA it was common to hear NBA reporters talking to other reporters about the idea that rarther than Stern having to suspend Jordan over gambling and ties to shady characters, that it would be easier to concoct the story about baseball.

This was all almost certainly done to preserve the entertainment and youth brand of the NBA. You were probably what -- 6 when this went down? The NBA made a special brand by marketing to younger fans by bringing in goofy expansion team names, a Saturday morning kids show about the NBA (remember Ahmad and Summer?), and a whole bunch of other stuff aimed at the young and kids.

It's not some wild ass conspiracy that doing the 2-yr break rather than a potential suspension was better for marketing of the NBA.